Boy Scouts in the Philippines

G >> G. Harvey Ralphson >> Boy Scouts in the Philippines

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As the head appeared, an arrow whizzed almost over the heads of the
watching boys and struck the side of the boat with a force which seemed
equal to cutting a hole in it. Pat was out of sight in a moment, with
the cabin door closed behind him.

"Going back to old methods, are they?" whispered Jack. "Do you see
anything of Ned or Frank there?"

Jimmie shook his head.

"I'm afraid they've gone to look us up," he said, "an' in that case,
their return to the boat is likely to bring about a fight."

The battle was on in a moment, for Ned, Frank and the Filipino boy were
now approaching the boat. It was decidedly a desperate charge they were
making through the jungle when shots from the right of the pursuers
caused the latter to believe that their peril lay in that direction.

When the Filipinos turned to beat off this attack Ned and his companions
made a rush for the boat and reached her in safety. Then the Filipinos
rushed to the bank, a dozen or more of them, in a rash attempt to board
the _Manhattan_.

They were met by a hot fire from the cabin and the cockpit as soon as
they came out on the little rim of clear space on the bank and turned to
the thicket for shelter only to meet a volley of revolver shots from the
interior. This was too much for the untrained natives to endure, and
they fled up the shore of the stream and disappeared.

The boys themselves were uninjured, but spots of blood on the shore and
on the leaves indicated that their bullets had not all gone astray. The
wounded natives, however, had been carried off by their companions.

Of course those on the boat understood where the fire which had assisted
them had come from. Jimmie and Jack were the only persons on the island
who would be apt to come to their aid.

"Come out of that!" Frank called, as the last Filipino disappeared.
"Don't stay there in the thicket all day! We've got to get out!"

"Why don't you get out, then?" demanded Jimmie, with a grin. "We'll stay
here an' run things while you are gone."

The boys were soon on board and the _Manhattan_ was worked out into the
channel. But before she was far away from the shore a volley of shots
came from the jungle, doing no damage except to the beauty of the craft.

"Now run!" advised Jack. "The steamer over on the other side can chase
the legs off us if given half a chance."

Frank took charge of the engine, and Jack stood by to see that he did
the right thing, and the boat purred through the waters at a speed which
she had never been called upon to make before. Presently the steamer
showed up, pumping great columns of smoke into the sweet air, and the
chase was on in earnest.

Ned directed Frank to seek the shelter of a group of islands not far
away and sat down to talk with Jimmie, first explaining to the two who
had just come aboard how the Filipino Boy Scout came to be there.

"We can't miss 'em!" Jimmie exclaimed, shaking the Filipino warmly by
the hand. "We found Boy Scouts in Mexico, and in the Canal Zone, and now
in the Philippines. They hop out on us wherever we go, like 'skeeters!"

There was now a long and serious talk concerning the course to be
pursued. Jimmie and Jack told of meeting the man who had been followed
to Yokohama, and also of the senator's son and the box he carried. The
Filipino told what he knew of the plans of those on board the steamer,
now gradually drawing away from them.

"Are you sure that the men in charge of the steamer are American
military men?" asked Ned.

"Sure!" was the reply. "I came from Manila with them."

"And they are in the service of the government?"

"Sure!"

"Then what are they doing on that island, in company with the insurgent
chiefs?" demanded Frank, but the Filipino only shook his head.

He insisted that Lieutenant Carstens, who was in command of the vessel
from which the steam launch had come, was a fine officer, and high in
the esteem of the Manila authorities.

"Then what is he monkeyin' with the rebel chiefs for?" demanded Jimmie.
"It looks to me like Uncle Sam was goin' to get the double cross."

"Why don't you go back to the steamer," asked Pat of Ned, "and go on
board?"

"That would be fine!" cried Jack.

"What could they do to him?" demanded Frank.

"That boat is here to make trouble for me," Ned said, in a moment. "I
can't understand what is going on, but I know that it would not be safe
for me to go on board."

"For why?" asked Jack.

"I should be accused of murder," was the grave reply.

"For shootin' the dagoes who were shootin' at you?" demanded Jimmie.

"That will be the charge," Ned replied.

"Then we'll become pirates!" Jack cried. "We'll sail the raving deep and
get a new plank for prisoners to walk as soon as the old one wears out.
We'll be bold, bad men on the Spanish main!"

"Cut it out!" Frank said. "This is no joke. They've got the goods on us
for that shooting, and we've got to keep out of the way until Ned
discovers the inner workings of this red tape machine."

The truth of this statement was so apparent that there was little more
argument on the subject. It seemed that, in trying to defend the
government against a gang of conspirators and traitors, Ned had indeed
come to a point of open rupture with some of the men in authority.

For some unknown reason they were chasing him down. Twice he had come to
the spot where the treasonable document was to be executed, and twice he
had been driven away without accomplishing the object he sought to
accomplish.

About the middle of the afternoon the government steamer disappeared
entirely, leaving the _Manhattan_ alone in the network of tiny islands
which came down pretty close to the northern shore of the island of
Luzon. Ned watched the last trace of her smoke disappear with much the
same feeling that one experiences when an enemy he has been fighting
passes from view but does not leave the vicinity.

"She's getting ready to spring out on us," he said to Frank. "She is
either waiting for night, or she has gone back to dig up a gunboat.
Those on board of her have good ground for arresting us, and before we
could prove the true state of affairs at the time of the shooting the
treaty would be signed and war would be on."

"If we only had that treaty box!" Jimmie exclaimed.

"And the senator's son with it!" Jack put in.

The steamer gave them no more trouble that day, and when night fell the
_Manhattan_ nosed into a creek which rippled into the channel and the
boys prepared to pass the night there. It was a still night and there
was no moon, but would be later on. The air, heavy with tropical scents,
scarcely stirred, the light breeze having gone down at sunset.

The island which the boys had selected as a resting place for the night
was well up to the north of Luzon and faced the China Sea. There seemed
to be no land between its western coast and the shoreline of China. Far
out in the sea the lights of a liner gleamed for an instant as the boys
carried provisions ashore, then the great expanse of water showed only
the light of the stars.

"We may have to lug this stuff back to the boat with a rush," laughed
Jimmie, as he carried a basket of tinned provisions from the rowboat to
the little glade where they were to prepare supper. "I don't believe the
government steamer went very far away. If she did, she'll come back with
a gunboat."

"Imagine a gunboat out here after the _Manhattan_!" scoffed Jack. "All
the steamer people wanted was to drive us away. Don't you think they
could have caught us if they had set out to? You bet they could! But
they didn't want to show up before us. There are people on board of her
who do not want to be seen in the society they have been in during the
past few days."

Ned looked the speaker over thoughtfully for a moment.

"I think," he said, "that you've about hit the nail on the head. They
wanted to drive us away, and they didn't want their own boat in the way
to-night."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Frank.

"I'm not very clear in my mind as to what I did mean," laughed Ned.
"However, it is plain that the steamer did not relish staying about
here."

Ned watched the supper preparations for a short time and then walked
away toward the interior. The island was a very small one, and consisted
chiefly of a round rim of white sand--which was rock pounded up by the
beating of the waves--and a rocky, cone-like elevation which lifted
above the waters of the China Sea like a signal tower.

In some distant epoch the bit of rock had been cast up from the bottom
of the ocean, and the rains and suns of countless years had formed from
the volcanic material the thin soil which here and there supported
tropical growths.

Sailors called the island "Elephant's Head," because the central
elevation was said to resemble in some remote degree the head of an
elephant, and because two great ridges of rock jutted out into the
water, pointing toward the coast of China. These ridges formed an
excellent harbor, and were known as "The Tusks."

The _Manhattan_ was not anchored in this secure harbor, but in a bay
which was formed by a break in the rock just around the south corner of
the island. There were springs high up on the mountain, and these formed
the river which had in turn worn away the rock and shaped the bay.

Ned reached the place where the climb began in five minutes after
leaving the campfire. There was no jungle to speak of and he walked
rapidly. He passed on up the steep side of the mountain for some
distance and then paused on a little shelf of rock which faced the west
and took out his glass.

Before him lay the quiet waters of the great China Sea, while back of
him loomed the rugged bulk of the mountain, the summit indistinct in the
darkness of the moonless night. The growths of the tropics came up to
where he stood and then died out from lack of soil. Elephant's Head
stood out boldly, its rugged lines unsoftened by the growths which
flourish almost everywhere in the Philippines.

Below, Ned could see the red of the campfire, sheltered from the sea
side by a screen of bushes. Away to the west he could see, at first,
nothing, and then a light came dancing over the waves. At first he
thought he must be mistaken, but the light remained stationery except
that it seemed to rock with the slow movement of the waves.

While the boy was wondering over the matter Pat came scrambling up the
side of the mountain. He threw himself on the shelf of rock by Ned's
side and pointed out to the west.

"You see that light?" he asked.

"Yes; I was just wondering about it," was the reply.

"It is at the top of a tall mast," Pat went on to explain, "and is a
signal. I can't read it, of course, but it seems to me that it means
mischief."

"I have no doubt of it," was the reply, "but we've got to wait for
developments for a time. This seems to me to be a waiting game," he
added with a laugh which did not sound at all merry.

The boys sat for a long time, watching the light, which grew nearer, and
the campfire below, which was still glowing brightly. Then Ned turned
his glass to the north and an exclamation of surprise escaped him. Where
he looked there was a duplicate of the light to the west, and that,
also, was drawing closer.

"I think," Ned said, after calling Pat's attention to the second light,
"that we'd better have that fire out. Go down and ask the boys to finish
their suppers and make everything dark."

"Why," Pat said, "you haven't any notion those ships are coming here,
have you?"

"There's a pretty good harbor here," Ned said.

"Yes, but--"

"And the insurrectos must have arms," Ned went on.

Pat thumped his hands down on his knees half a dozen times and then
brought one palm down on Ned's shoulder.

"Sure!" he said. "Sure, sure, sure! The game is to land arms and
ammunition here to-night! Now, what do you think of tumbling headfirst
into the center of the disturbance like this? Say, we'll have to receipt
for those guns!"

CHAPTER XVI.

FOR PIRACY ON THE HIGH SEAS.

The boys hastened down to the campfire and quickly extinguished it, much
to the disgust of Jimmie, who had begun the preparation of an elaborate
meal--at least as elaborate as could be gotten together out of tin cans.

This precaution taken, the _Manhattan_ was towed into the mouth of the
little creek and climbers and creepers drawn over her until no one would
have suspected her presence there. The engine was not set in motion in
making this change because of the danger from the explosions.

All this accomplished, Ned and Pat climbed back to the shelf of rock and
again looked out over the mysterious China Sea. There were the two
lights, one to the west and one to the north. They were closer to the
island than before, however, and the light up toward Formosa was drawing
to the south rapidly.

"They are going to meet here, all right," Pat said, "and I'll go apples
to snowballs that they've got arms for the insurrectos. The manager of
this enterprise never let all those chiefs get away from that other
island without signing the treaty, and now he's sneaking in guns to help
them out."

The boys discussed the situation for some moments, the lights coming
nearer with astonishing rapidity. At length another light showed away to
the south and west, but not such a light as the others.

It was not high up in the air, like the others, and directly it seemed
to divide itself into half a dozen points. Its progress toward the
island seemed to be even faster than that of the others.

"That's a steamer," Ned said, after a long look through his glass.

"The other lights are on steamers, too," Pat replied. "No wind-jammer
could make the time, in this calm, that those boats are making."

While the boys looked the lights went out, or appeared to, and there was
only the glimmer of the unfamiliar constellations of the heavens over
the China Sea.

"That's strange!"

Pat turned to Ned and grasped him by the arm.

"What do you make of it?" he continued.

"That may be a signal," was the reply.

"If it is, the glims will show again directly."

"They may," was the reply.

But the lights did not show again, and, after waiting for an hour or
more, the boys started back to the camp. Half way down, the dull,
reverberating boom of a cannon came to their ears, over the water.

"What does that mean?" asked Pat.

"It may be the gunboat Jimmie insisted would be sent for me," smiled
Ned.

"You don't really think that?"

"Hardly," was the reply, "but I don't know what to make of it."

"Perhaps it was a command for the other ships to show their lights," Pat
suggested.

"I hope Uncle Sam is becoming wise to the game that is being played down
here," Ned said, "and has sent a gunboat to look into it."

"That's it!" cried Pat. "That's just it! If she doesn't pass the ships
in the dark there'll be something doing here."

The dull boom of the gun came again, and, far out, the low lights of the
gunboat showed above the water. She seemed to be passing swiftly to the
north.

"She's going to pass us, all right!" Pat cried. "Now, what did she make
that noise for? To warn the ships that she was coming, and to get out of
the way?"

"There's some good reason," Ned replied.

In a moment a searchlight shot out from the gunboat and prowled over the
sea. The boys could see it moving about, but could not see that it
picked up the ships which had previously shown the lights. One of the
vessels, it appeared, was too far to the south and the other too far to
the north to be reached by the traveling rays from the gunboat.

"She's slowing down!" Pat cried, in a moment. "She's going to search the
islands. Glory be!"

"You may not want to meet her people, after you find out what they
want," said Ned. "Remember that battle with the Filipinos back there."

"I'm willing to take chances with them," was the reply.

The boys now hastened back to camp and Ned passed on to the creek where
the _Manhattan_ lay in hiding.

"Jimmie," he said, turning to face that young gentleman, "do you
remember whether those rockets we bought at Manila were put on board?"

"Sure they were!" was the reply. "Want 'em?"

Ned replied that he did, and the boy went prospecting in the lockers of
the boat.

"Got 'em!" he cried presently.

"Do you know how to send them off?" asked Ned.

"Do I? Well, if you'd ever seen me bossin' the fireworks at Tompkins
Square, in little old N. Y., I guess you wouldn't ask that!"

Just then Jack came blundering along through the brush and half fell
into the boat.

"You'd make a fine scout!" Jimmie said. "You move through the thickets
with the stealth and grace of an elephant!"

"What's that firing about?" asked Jack, paying no attention to the boy
and facing Ned anxiously, his face only half seen in the semi-darkness.

"That is what I want you to find out," was the reply. "I want you and
Jimmie to put the boat in running condition, everything ready for a
spurt of speed. And I want you to remain here in the boat, ready to
shoot out in a second."

"All right! That's easy."

"You may have to wait a long time," Ned went on, "and you may have to go
inside of five minutes. When you go, muffle the engine as much as
possible, but run like the Old Nick was after you--run for the gunboat
out there!"

"They'll pinch me!" wailed Jimmie.

"And when you get to the gunboat," Ned continued, "tell the officer in
charge that Nestor is a prisoner on this island, and that the
insurrectos are about to land guns and ammunition here."

"You a prisoner!" Jack echoed. "What's the use of lying about it?"

"I shall be a prisoner by the time you reach the gunboat," Ned said,
coolly--as calmly as if he had been announcing that he would be taking
his supper at that time.

"If you go in the _Manhattan_," Jack said, "you won't be a prisoner
here."

"But I've got to stay here," Ned said, "and besides, the boat must not
be loaded down. She may have to make a hot run for the gunboat."

"I don't know what you're up to," Jack said, doubtfully, "but I guess
you do, so I'll do just as you say."

"What about the rockets?" asked Jimmie.

"They are to be used in signaling the gunboat," Ned replied. "She may be
a long ways off when you get out there."

When the boys at the camp had finished their supper, eaten in the
darkness, and watched the sea for signs of the ships for half an hour,
they started toward the boat. Then another shot came over the water,
followed by two more, fired in quick succession. Ned joined them
instantly, for, following the shots, the rattle of sailing gear and the
thud-thud of boxes or boards on a deck echoed over the sea.

"One of the ships is close in," Ned said. "Now we'll see if the owners
are unloading missionaries here!"

The vessel close in looked like an old-fashioned top-sail schooner;
still there was an engine and a propeller. She was a three-master, and
looked, in the uncertain light, as if she had been in service in the
East for a long time.

She glided into the harbor between the Tusks as if she knew every inch
of the channel, and brought up close to a flat surface of rock on one of
the Tusks, which formed a natural pier. Then the hatches were opened,
and shaded lanterns gleamed about the deck.

Ned glanced back over the mountain, and was astonished at seeing a green
signal light there, almost at the top. The men on the schooner saw the
signal, too, for Ned could see them pointing at it, could hear them
laughing as if a great point had been gained.

"Wonder why we didn't see that?" asked Frank. "It must have been there
when the lights showed from the ships."

"We didn't go up high enough, or it might not have been there when we
were looking," was the reply.

"Well," Frank said, then, "if we didn't see the chap who is tending that
light on the mountain, he must have seen us; or if he didn't see us he
must have heard the engine of the _Manhattan_ doing her talking stunt."

"Probably," replied Ned.

The matter was more serious than his manner indicated, for he turned
quickly and walked toward the _Manhattan_, calling out softly to Pat as
he did so. There was no answer for a moment, and then it came in the
shape of a dozen pistol shots.

Ned dropped down behind a clump of bushes and waited for an instant,
resolved to know what was going on at the boat before advancing. Then
the boys from the camp came running up, asking questions, and all made a
rush for the boat.

When they came within sight of the spot where she lay, they saw that she
was moving out into the bay, and that Pat was standing by the engine
whirling the fly-wheel. On the shore were a score of Filipinos, standing
with guns turned toward the boat.

The boys saw Ned and Frank spring forward, saw them hesitate an instant,
and then drop to the ground. The _Manhattan_ swung out into the bay with
engines snapping and propeller churning the smooth waters.

"Whoop--ee!" shouted Pat from the deck.

"Got her off all right!" shouted Jimmie. "Nobody hurt!"

"Straight to the Northwest," shouted Ned, "and keep your rockets going!"

"I wish we had been able to get on board," Frank said, regretfully, as
the _Manhattan_ showed a clean pair of heels out of the bay. "I saw Jack
on her."

"The boys on board have their instructions," Ned said, "and now we may
as well be getting out of range of these little brown men! If Pat and
the others hadn't been on their guard the boat would have been
captured."

The moon was rising now, almost at full, and brought the natives,
standing on the beach, out in full relief. They were well armed, and
seemed very angry at the turn matters had taken. They had evidently been
sent out to capture the boat, and were not pleased at the report they
would now be obliged to make.

They stood looking out at the fast receding boat for only a moment
before opening fire on her. Directly, however, the _Manhattan_ was out
of range, and then they turned their attention to Ned's party, which,
being hidden by the thicket, might not have been discovered at that time
only for the instructions shouted out by Ned as the boat slid away.

Knowing that he would be between two fires if a battle opened, Ned made
no show of resistance when the natives approached him with leveled guns.
There was a great bustle between the Tusks now, showing that the cargo
of the schooner, whatever it was, was being landed, and it was natural
to suppose that there existed an understanding between the crew and the
men on the island.

"Don't try to shoot!" a voice said in good English. "My men have you
covered."

"Who are you?" asked Ned, not much surprised, after what had taken
place, to find the party officered by an American.

"An officer in the United States army," was the unexpected reply.

"Then what are you doing all this shooting for?" demanded Frank. "Why
did you molest the _Manhattan_, here on government service?"

"We'll see about the service she is on later," replied the officer.
"Beat it for the harbor, all of you."

When the party reached the Tusks the crew of the schooner was busy
unloading long pine boxes which looked as if they contained shovels and
hoes, and seemed to be very heavy. The second vessel, the one which had
been observed in the north, lay close in.

"Where's the officer in charge?" asked Ned, as they approached a group
standing at the head of the harbor.

The officer who had captured the boys pointed out a tall, rather
fine-looking man who was standing, pencil and paper in hand, checking
off the boxes as they crashed down on the beach.

"There he is," was the information given. "Lieutenant Carstens, and a
mighty good man at that!"

The Filipino boy stepped forward, as if anticipating a friendly greeting
and then drew back in confusion. Lieutenant Carstens had looked him
fairly in the face and had not recognized him.

Ned did not step forward to present his side of the case to the man
pointed out to him, for there was no need to do so. The man was the one
he had met in the tea house in Yokohama, in the Street of a Thousand
Steps.

"Go on and give him a talk," Frank said, as Ned drew back.

"There is not a bit of use," Ned replied. "The man is a crook, and is
not acting for the government here."

"Then why these vessels?" asked Frank. "He must be a good deal of a wise
crook if be sails about with a fleet like that."

"I rather think he is a good deal of a wise crook," Ned replied. "He's
the man whom Jimmie saw mixing with the rebel chiefs."

"But look here," Frank insisted, "look at the blue coats unloading the
boxes. They are in the service, for sure. This Lieutenant Carstens may
be a crook, but he has a command in the United States navy, all right."

One of the men who was assisting the Lieutenant in the tally now called
his attention to the prisoners and the Filipino boy standing by their
side. He listened for a moment to what was said to him, then motioned
for the Filipino boy to approach. The two talked for a moment in
Spanish, and then the boy, evidently much against his will, was sent on
board the ship.

In a few moments the Lieutenant turned to Ned, a smile of victory on his
lips.

"Well," he said, "your career as a pirate has been brought to a sudden
close."

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